Storm Warning

Chapter One

ANDRE MARSH INCHED closer to the ventilation grate, scowling at the metal slats obstructing his vision. He needed to see everything going on in the cold, sterile room where thugs held Riley.

His woman was holding her own, so Andre gave her kudos for that. Well, he’d like to call her his woman. At the moment, he occupied the space of a wonderful friend.

He grimaced. He’d been stuck in the friend zone for months now and had yet to broach the subject with Riley in a way guaranteed for him to escape that zone. His feelings for Riley Sloan went way beyond friendship and had since the day he met her and the Artemis team.

“We need your cooperation, Ms. Sloan,” her interrogator said, a plea clear in his voice. “Will you work with us?”

“You have a funny way of asking for cooperation.” Riley wriggled her wrists, which were zip-tied to the arms of a chair, as were her ankles. “Kidnapping? Really? Why didn’t you contact my boss and ask to talk to me?”

“That’s not possible. We can’t use official channels. There must be no trace of the search or of our request for your cooperation.”

“Request? You kidnapped me, buddy. That’s not asking politely.”

“You must understand our position, Ms. Sloan. This assignment is of the utmost urgency.”

Andre frowned. This guy wasn’t making sense. What assignment?

“What’s the assignment?”

“That’s classified.”

She was silent for a beat. “Do you work for the government?”

A wintry smile curved his lips. “Also classified.”

Riley scowled. “Look, I need to know what I’m getting into before I’ll do anything.”

The thug at the back of the room stepped up behind Riley, grabbed a fistful of her hair, and yanked her head back. When she gasped, Thug One pressed a knife to her throat.

She froze.

“Show some respect.”

Andre aimed his weapon at the thug brandishing the knife and adjusted his position. One wrong twitch, and Thug One was dead.

Riley swallowed hard, and blood trickled down her throat.

Andre’s finger caressed the trigger of his Sig.

He’d have to move fast to kill all three men before one of them shot Riley or slit her throat in retaliation.

He couldn’t depend on Riley to help him, not with her hands tied to the chair, and the rest of their teammates were fighting cartel soldiers.

Andre had been the only one to see these thugs slip in and take off with Riley.

“Don’t.” Interrogator pulled his own weapon and aimed at Thug One. “Release her.”

Thug One’s eyes widened. “What are you doing? I’m on your side.”

“I have orders, and so do you. Ms. Sloan is not to be harmed. Release her. Now.”

The thug glared at Interrogator as he complied with the order. He took the knife away from Riley’s throat, released her hair, and stepped back, returning the wicked-looking knife to its sheath.

Interrogator grabbed a clean towel from a nearby table and dabbed at the cut to Riley’s throat, wiping blood from her skin. “There now. It’s just a minor cut. I apologize for my colleague. He’s loyal and enthusiastic about his job.” The man leaned closer to inspect the cut.

Andre tensed, adjusting his aim again. His target needed to move a couple of inches to the right. No way would he risk hitting Riley by accident. He’d rather not shoot anyone in that room. Doing so might bring more men into the room and lower the odds of rescuing Riley to almost nil.

After a careful inspection, Interrogator nodded. “It’s a minor cut. I don’t have antibiotic ointment, or I would treat it.”

Thug Two cleared his throat. “Move back, sir.”

His boss stared. “Why?”

“If the woman gets loose, she could hurt you.”

Andre’s lips curved. Not could. Absolutely would. A fierce fighter, Riley would use everything available to her advantage, including her legs and feet. You could do a lot in self-defense with your legs and feet.

“You zip-tied her ankles to the legs of the chair. Did you do a poor job of it?”

A scowl. “Of course not. But there are ways to break zip ties.”

“I trust you thought through all the possibilities and set things up so she is not a threat to me or anyone else.”

Thug Two closed his mouth.

Andre wanted to laugh. The man had boxed himself into a corner with his boss. Anything he said now would make matters worse.

Interrogator returned his attention to Riley. “Look, Ms. Sloan, the faster you cooperate, the sooner we’ll release you.”

Not going to happen. Andre watched the reactions of the two guards. The truth lingered in their eyes. If Riley cooperated, she wouldn’t live to see the sun rise in the morning.

Interrogator’s phone signaled an incoming message. He frowned, yanked the instrument from his pocket, and glared at the screen. Growling, he shoved it back into his pocket. “I’ll be back. The boss wants to see me. Monitor her.”

Thug One’s mouth curved into a wintry smile. “With pleasure.”

The leader of the group’s eyebrows knitted. “On second thought, you and your friend wait outside in the hall.”

“You shouldn’t leave this woman alone,” Two said.

“I’ll lock the door. Even if she gets loose, where will she go?

This room has no windows, so she can’t escape.

Frankly, I don’t trust either of you not to harm Ms. Sloan.

You may not be afraid of our employer, but I am.

I don’t intend to be punished for something you do without my permission.

” He opened the door and motioned for the thugs to precede him into the hall.

That’s exactly what Andre wanted to see. An empty room with only Riley inside.

He holstered his weapon and carefully backed out the screws holding the grate in place. With care, Andre eased the grate inside the air conditioning duct and crawled out, sliding to the floor without a sound. He hurried across the expanse separating him from Riley, drawing his Ka-Bar as he went.

Andre slid the knife under the zip tie and yanked. “You all right?”

She nodded. “I’m glad to see you. I didn’t think anyone noticed when these guys grabbed me.”

“I noticed.” He always noticed everything about Riley. After months of being her partner on combined operations with Echo and Artemis, watching Riley’s back was second nature now. Andre freed her ankles, sheathed his knife, and tugged Riley to her feet.

He tapped his earpiece. “I have the package.”

“Good work,” Seth said. “Meet us at rendezvous point one. Sing out if you need help.”

“Copy that.” Hopefully, he wouldn’t need help. Their teammates were fighting terrorists outside the compound, and they were seriously outnumbered, a familiar scenario on their many missions.

“Got a plan to get us out of here?”

“Yeah, the same way I got in.”

Riley stared. “You’re joking.”

“Nope. There are at least fifty soldiers inside this building. I’d rather not have to take them all on to spring you.”

She shut her eyes briefly, then sighed. “Let’s do it.”

Andre gripped her upper arm to hold her in place. “What’s the problem?”

“Claustrophobia.”

His eyebrows soared. He did not know that about Riley. Not a good time to find out, either. “How bad is your phobia?”

“Bad enough, but I’ll handle it. If that’s our only way out, then I’ll deal.”

“Are you sure? If you freak out in there and alert the enemy to our location, they’ll pick us off like ducks in a shooting gallery.”

She scowled. “I said I’d handle it, and I will.”

He gave a slight nod. “After you.” Once Riley stood beneath the duct, Andre wrapped his arms around her knees and lifted.

Riley scrambled into the duct and crawled a few feet in before stopping. “Hurry.”

She didn’t have to tell him twice. Andre jammed Riley’s chair under the doorknob, then hauled himself into the ventilation shaft. He eased the grate into place and hoped for the best.

No way that grate would hold for long. A good gust of wind would send it tumbling to the floor and clue the kidnappers in to their escape route.

They had to get out of this building before the enemy sent men into the vents after them or stationed men under key strategic vents to catch them when they climbed out.

He caught up with Riley at a junction and slid past her to lead the way to the outside. Inch by inch, they slid through the duct system, slowly heading toward the utility room where Andre had gained access to the vent.

Every few feet, he glanced over his shoulder, assessing Riley’s progress. Near the halfway mark, he noticed her pallor. Not good. If he didn’t get her out of the enclosed space soon, Riley might lose it. “You’re doing great.”

“Keep going.”

Right. Don’t waste time. Andre pressed ahead, pushing the pace a little faster and willing her to keep up. She did.

At another juncture, he turned left and checked on his woman. Not only was she pale, but perspiration dotted Riley’s face. He longed to comfort her, but there was no time for comfort. Every minute they remained in the ducts meant the enemy had a greater chance of locating them and smoking them out.

Andre moved faster, encouraging Riley to follow his pace. She gritted her teeth and matched him.

Finally, he saw the grate in the utility room where he’d accessed the ventilation system. Andre reached toward the grate to remove it and paused when he heard male voices. He gave Riley the signal to hold.

“Are you sure she crawled into the vent?” Interrogator asked.

“There’s no other way to escape,” Thug One said. “Like you said, there weren’t any windows in that room, and she sure didn’t get past us in the corridor.”

“Do you know how many vents are in this place?”

“So many we’ll be lucky if we figure out which one she used to exit the system,” Thug Two said. “I think she’s in the compound somewhere. This is a waste of our time.”

“Do you want to go back to the boss and tell him you let her escape?”

Silence.

“Didn’t think so.” A sigh. “The vent’s in place here. Let’s move on to the next floor.”

The voices faded as the men walked to another location.

Andre waited for a minute to be sure the utility room was empty, then signaled Riley that he would check the room. If someone had remained behind to watch for Riley, Andre would have seconds to neutralize the threat before the enemy soldier raised the alarm and alerted other soldiers in the area.

He removed the grate, held it in one hand, and jumped silently to the floor. A quick glance around told him he was correct. The utility room was empty. Andre motioned for Riley to come ahead. Seconds later, she slid from the vent and into his arms.

Riley looked up at him, startled. “Thanks.”

Although Andre would love to linger with her in his arms, he hurried to the window that he’d used to enter the building and checked their escape route to see if it was still viable. Easing the window up, he surveyed the area. Coast was clear.

Excellent. “It’s clear. Go.” When Riley stood in front of him beneath the window, Andre grasped her around the knees and lifted her.

She scrambled through the open window and signaled to him that the area was still clear of threats.

It wouldn’t be for long. Too many soldiers walked around this compound for them to ignore this area. Andre hoisted himself up and over the sill and crouched beside Riley.

The humid jungle air settled on them like a wet wool blanket.

Breathing was hard work in this atmosphere.

He’d be glad when the team headed for home.

They’d been in this jungle for two weeks, tracking terrorists who had kidnapped an ambassador’s ten-year-old son.

They’d freed the boy and were heading back to the jet when the teams ran into a contingent of terrorists.

While they were busy with the enemy, three of the terrorists had grabbed Riley and fled with her.

That led them to where they were now, escaping from the compound.

After a careful scan of the area, he signaled Riley to follow him.

They stayed in deep shadows as much as possible on their journey to the back of the compound where Andre had entered.

Fewer people milled around the area in daylight.

Now that it was full dark, he hoped to encounter even fewer soldiers.

A noise on his left drew Andre’s attention. His heart skipped a beat, then leaped ahead at a rapid pace as adrenaline flooded his system. One soldier rounded the corner of the building they’d just escaped from and began systematically checking windows and doors.

It wouldn’t take long for the soldier to discover the open window he and Riley had climbed through minutes earlier. They were still too close to that window for Andre’s peace of mind. No doubt the soldier would report in and draw more of his colleagues to the area to help search.

Not good. He glanced at Riley and saw she understood the danger they were in. They had to move before the soldier’s backup arrived.

Movement drew attention, though. They’d have to move with caution. Andre motioned for Riley to walk closer to the wall. Taking a chance they wouldn’t draw attention, he made his way deeper into the shadows and followed the concrete wall that encircled the compound.

He bypassed one large tree surrounded by bushes. No way to get through the foliage without alerting everyone in the compound to their escape route.

A shout in the distance told Andre that he and Riley were running out of time. Their escape window was closing fast.

Hoping they had enough time, he ran behind several bushes in a crouch with Riley two steps behind him.

When he reached the section of the wall with a large tree limb stretching across from the other side, he squatted and threaded his fingers together to create a cradle for Riley’s foot.

She stepped into the cradle, and Andre launched her to the tree limb.

Riley grasped the limb, lifted herself up and over the top, scooted to the concrete wall and dropped to the other side.

Andre backed up a few paces, then sprinted forward and leaped for the limb. He grabbed the limb covered with rough bark, hauled himself up and over the wall and dropped beside Riley, who had her Sig up and ready to protect him.

He drew his weapon and signaled Riley to take the lead so he could protect her better. She wouldn’t thank him for assuming that she needed him to do so.

After a scan of the area, Riley sprinted toward the treeline 200 yards in front of them. Someone shouted behind them, and a barrage of bullets hit the ground near Riley and Andre.

Andre glanced over his shoulder. “Faster.”

She poured on a burst of speed and skidded to a stop when one terrorist stepped from the jungle with the barrel of a rifle pointed at them.